A great way to build student interest in words is to develop as a class an oversized or “Big Book” class thesaurus. Throughout the year as students learn new words, have them look them up and generate some additional synonyms for each word. This can help students expand both reading skills as they search for new words and think about their meanings, but also enhance writing by learning about the subtle shades of meaning for various words. The students love making the book and finding new words. It is also a great way for English Language learners to expand their understanding of English words as well.
Helping Teachers Improve Literacy Instruction and Teach Students to Read